Tainted Red
by TheAzureFox
Summary: The snow continued to fall. It fell upon the standing figures of a thief and girl, the white purity washing away all that had been stained. Hakuba could only stare as the others gathered beside him in one last effort of respect to Kid. (One-shot with hinted AkakoxHakuba, ShinRan and AokoxKaito)


The snow was falling again.

Hakuba stood before the figures of Aoko and Kaitou Kid, his gaze lost upon their innocent figures. He watched them solemnly, hat tipped forward and a frown crossing upon his face. The high school detective reached for the pocket of his coat, fingers sliding into the narrow entrance, when a hand stopped him. The blonde man glanced up to see a girl draped in red looking back, her head slowly shaking back and forth. His arm withdrew from his coat and fell to his side. He watched the girl with a kind of isolation as she reached for his hand and squeezed it, forcefully intertwining her fingers with his. Had her touch been felt more than a day earlier, he would've accepted the gesture with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Now, however, he could only stare at her face with vague surprise.

Forbidden tears cascaded down the witch's cheeks, tainted red with the essence of magic. Her outfit, which had once boasted cobras and other egyptian-based eccentrics, had faded away to a normal school uniform. Her black hair had lost its luster and her red eyes had turned into an abnormal shade of brown. She didn't seem to care though, her free hand covering her mouth in pure and utter horror.

Hakuba couldn't help himself from voicing his shock. "Your powers…" he murmured distantly, "they're gone…"

She turned to him with a look of anger, as if those words were the last thing she had considered hearing from him. "A witch who cries loses her powers forever…," the woman bit into her lip. "I know that, I know that but…but Ki-!"

He tugged her closer, their shoulders touching. She blinked once before her muscles acknowledged his touch and the tension eased from her body. The girl frowned, sniveling as she, too, watched the two figures in the snow.

Flakes of ice dropped down from the sky, decorating Tokyo with white. In a way, Hakuba thought it was almost ironic. When he had first met the infamous Kaitou Kid, it had been on a similar type of night. The world had been burning with icy coldness, and the blizzard outside the skating rink's gallery had made it very clear that escaping would not be an easy task for the notorious thief. At least, that's what Hakuba had believed when he cut the weather balloon away from the gallery's rooftop. Yet, somehow, Kid had made a getaway. Kid always made a getaway. Even in the most impossible of conditions, the phantom thief had always managed to slip away into the murky night.

_But then he got caught,_ a sudden voice chimed in his head. The man frowned, remembering the time when a critical mistake had led to the slip-up of Kid's enigmatic identity. Aoko had not been the first to discover her best friend's alter-ego, but she certainly had not been the last either. Hakuba and Akako had known from the moment they discovered the eerie similarities between the boy magician and the prankster thief. Others, like the recently returned detective of the east, had figured it out through two meetings with the boy - one for each form. Hakuba had almost been amazed when the boy had made the discovery within a total of two times - it had taken three for him to recognize the phantom thief for who he really was.

But, speaking of the great detective…Hakuba glanced behind him to see a helicopter slowly descending to the ground. The machine hovered over the ground, rotor blades kicking up snow as one of the doors slid open. Out stepped a boy and a girl, both jumping feet-first into the icy precipitation. The girl wobbled to one side but her partner caught her with swift movements. She berated him with words Hakuba could not catch before jerking away and running in their direction. The boy chased after her with a dejected look, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.

The girl came to a halt between Akako and Hakuba, separating them apart. It wasn't long before she, too, cast her gaze upon the two people who had summoned them all there. Her jaw dropped and she began to say something but choked upon her own voice. "Oh…oh god. What…what happened to them?"

Nobody bothered to answer her.

With hurried steps, the other of the pair came to stand beside Hakuba. And, for a split second, the blonde detective could've sworn that Kaito Kuroba himself was standing beside him again. However, that foolish notion was soon banished from his mind as soon as the newcomer spoke. "Is…Is that Kid?"

Hakuba greeted both of them with a forlorn smile. "Nice to see you again, Little Detective, Ran."

Shinichi gave the man a vague nod of his head, seemingly unbothered by his former nickname. "Hakuba," he stated the name in an almost detached way.

All four of them quickly drifted into silence. It wasn't like they had no intention of talking, but the mood was too heavy for one to care about grim conversations. The helicopter still buzzed behind them, but its noise was hardly heard among the howling of the wind.

Frigid pain dug into Hakuba's skin, producing goosebumps underneath his school uniform, but the man could hardly care. After all, it would be useless to leave now. Not when Aoko and Kid needed him the most.

The thief's cape rose like a flag from his back and twisted in the wind, glistening with the taste of moonlight. His monocle, which usually covered his right eye, had been shattered to tiny bits of glass. The white gloves that had once sat upon his hands had also been cast aside in favor of pure flesh, his fingers intertwining pitifully with the girl's beside him. A small grin was plastered onto his face, echoing the image of the girl's chaste smile. Both seemed to be enjoying the other's company, even if their bodies were buried deep into snow.

However, no matter how happy each figure appeared, there was still that unmistakable color that sullied their pure image. From their chests, budding up into a crude rose of crimson, were the wounds that had cost both of them their lives. The high school detective brought his hands into fists, cursing the ones who had brought them all to this miserable end. Though no one had truly laid eyes upon the actual murder, many detectives had pointed the traitorous Gunter Von Goldberg III - otherwise known as Spider - to be the killer. The man had later been captured by the detective of the west, cornered and outsmarted in a basement until he was finally arrested by the FBI. Hakuba should have felt satisfied by the destruction of the one he hated most, but all he could feel was a pit of sadness as he stared upon the bodies of his two best friends.

Shinichi shattered their moment of grieving with footsteps towards Kaito. "If I may," the teenager pulled out a blue rose and whispered to the snow-covered pair, "this's for you. For both of you."

They all eyed him with curiosity, but none of them could bother to inquire as to what he was about to do. Hakuba could only watch as the boy respectfully lifted up both their hands - careful not to pry them apart - before he slipped the flower under them. The detective pulled back, placed his arms in front of him, and gave a bow. Ran followed his example with a curt bow of her own, unable to hide the distress that had molded onto her face. A small sob shook her, and Shinichi leaned toward her as if to offer comfort. She seemed irritated, but nonetheless accepted his gesture as she pressed herself against him. Akako wiped at her tears and stared upon the thief and girl with trembling lips. She clutched at the ends of her skirt and tried to smile. However, her effort was thwarted as a sob wracked her body and she collapsed to her knees. Her fingers dug into the snow, hands paling immensely as fresh tears sprang from her eyes. It took all the self-control Hakuba had to stop himself from comforting her. She didn't need his pity. Instead, he simply took a turn and gave a bow to the two bodies with as much gracefulness as he could muster.

"Thank you," he murmured. "Kaito, Kid, Aoko. Thank you for everything you've done for us."

Akako glanced up at his words before she, too, joined in. "Kid…even if I may not have stolen your heart, even if Aoko was the one who beat me to the punch, I will always remember you. Kaitou, Miss Nakamori, I will never, ever forget what you have done for me as you have done for others. For the lives that you gave up, for the memories you left behind, I swear that your secrets will be treasured forever."

A pregnant pause as everyone watched the witch with admiration, knowing that her words were deeply sincere and respectful.

"Words of great honor," Shinichi breathed in fascination. "I'm afraid I can't match up to this woman's promises, my friend, but I will try my best."

He paused. "Kid - no, Kaito - we've been through a lot together. You've saved my life, I've saved yours. You've done me favors and I've done the same for you. It's strange, really, a detective teaming up with a criminal and yet, somehow, it worked. We became partners against crime, partners against the very nature of what the world might expect from a thief and a shrunken investigator. Still, that never changed the fact that we were friends, rivals, and even good-willed enemies. I had hoped to become more acquainted with you but…it seems the organization has taken its toll upon you as well. I guess I can only hope now to meet you again in another life. Goodbye, Kaitou Kid."

Ran stayed quiet. Hakuba supposed it was out of respect she didn't say anything, for she had rarely come into contact with either of the pair. The high school detective knew Ran had a small amount of association with Aoko and a few brief moments with Kid, so it was no surprise when she stood there as quiet as a mouse. Small tears glistened on the edges of her eyes, but she did not bother to interrupt their partings with words. Instead, she placed two hands in front of her, closed her eyes, and prayed. Hakuba watched her in surprise, having expected her to show respect through stillness and stillness alone.

Shinichi smiled knowingly and copied her movements, dipping his head to Aoko and Kaito. He seemed so peaceful, so hopeful, that it was almost compelling. The action, as the detective of time knew well, was meant as a last wish for a promising reassurance that lost souls would reach the afterlife. Hakuba watched the pair for a bit before noticing that Akako, too, had joined along. She was shivering from the cold, water stained upon her cheeks, but her determined pose told of her strong will. Her lips moved as if to cast a voiceless spell, but Hakuba could tell she was wishing for her friend's safety in their passing.

Hakuba joined in, clasping his hands together beneath his chin. However, unlike the others, he kept his eyes open. Instead, he focused all of his attention upon the moonlight-bathed figures.

The snow continued to fall.

And, for just a brief second, Hakuba could've sworn he felt something tear past him.

The snow continued to fall.

The high school detective looked up to the sky, feeling the chilly winter air as it pressed down upon his face. He felt the irrational need to say something. It itched at him, the instinct appearing from nowhere. Giving in to the feeling, he parted his mouth to let the innocent words escape.

"Goodbye, Kaito. Aoko."

The snow stopped falling.

And two tiny voices responded.

_"Farewell...everyone."_

* * *

><p>And hello, DCMK fandom! I've recently just jumped upon the bandwagon after having watched and discovered the Magic Kaito 1412 anime (along with its predecessor). And, I must say, I wished I had found this series earlier (meaning both "worlds"). I could gush all over it like the fangirl that I am, but I feel that is un-needed in this AN.

Anyways, the theme for this story was meant to be "snow" which somehow went from a story about soft white flakes of ice all the way to the deaths of Kaitou Kid and his 'girlfriend' (not that they ever made it officially to that stage in this head-canon). I was going for kind of a silent but somber mood as I'm working on portraying emotions, but I feel as if it falls far from the emotion I was seeking for. Oh well!

I hope you enjoyed it~

-TheAzureFox


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